GOP Convention Thread

[GMDino]

Packers fan Paul Ryan waves Steelers 'Terrible Towel' for Pennsylvania delegation


http://ftw.usatoday.com/2016/07/paul-ryan-terrible-towel-steelers-packers-fan-rnc-nfl

Quote:Speaker of the House Paul Ryan hails from Wisconsin and owns stock in the Green Bay Packers. But when Ryan met with a Pennsylvania delegation at the Republican National Convention on Monday, he waved a “Terrible Towel” emblematic of the Pittsburgh Steelers.



“I want to win this election so darn badly that I’m willing to do this,” Ryan said as the crowd whooped in support. Here’s video of the incident:





People who like Paul Ryan will inevitably cite this as an example of his dedication to his political party, whereas people who don’t like Paul Ryan will use it to show his willingness to sacrifice his personal values to pander. In truth, Ryan’s decision to wave a Terrible Towel says absolutely nothing about his ability to govern and presumably stems from exhaustive market research showing that the demonstration of loyalty to an NFL team makes a politician more relatable and electable.


Similarly, presumptive Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton shared a video to Twitter in February describing the experience of watching football in the Clinton household. Ryan himself has waved a Terrible Towel before, at a campaign stop in Pennsylvania while running for Vice President on Mitt Romney’s ticket in 2012.



None of it matters whatsoever, except that the allegiant type of totemism embodied both by the flaunting of a symbol like the Terrible Towel and any vitriolic responses that follow represents exactly the type of closed-minded and divisive my-team, your-team thinking that too often cripples this country’s government.

I can only imagine the people of Cleveland are definitely leaning toward Trump now.